Sign.



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WITNESSES. INVE/VTUR WZZl'cUMZ/hiison X By zma (gm A TOR PATENTED SEPT. 26, 1905.

W. T. WATSON.

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Arm/m6 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 26, 1905.

Application filed January 25, 1905. Serial No. 242,597.

To all w/wm/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM THOMAS WAT- SON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and Improved Sign, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to a sign intended especially for street-railway cars but it is useful for other purposes, as will be apparent.

The object of the invention is to provide a sign which will be uniformly visible in night and day and not subject to weather conditions, to which end the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a case or frame containing a light of any sort, preferably an electric light, the front of said case being provided with a transparent or translucent wall, and in front of which is arranged a plate .having the name or other device forming the sign produced by openings in the plate. Through these openings the lights rays are emitted at night, so as to make a luminous sign, and in the day the lettering or other device produced on the plate will be plainly visible. An important advantage in orificing the plate to produce the sign is that snow, sleet, and the like will pass through the openings and will not obscure the sign. Also the plate may be painted whenever desired by simply dipping it in a body of liquid paint.-

The peculiar stenciled signs which I employ may be used in daylight independent of artificial light and with a background of any form and color, all of which will be fully set forth hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate as an example the preferred embodiment of my invention, in which drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the views, and in which Figure 1 is a cross-section of the sign on the line 1 1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a plan with parts broken away.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates the support of the sign, which when the device is used in railway-ears will be the roof of the car. To this support are attached brackets 1 1, carrying a case or housing 1 2, which maybe of any suitable construction, but preferably formed with a wooden bottom and metallic back,

. end, and side walls. 12 indicates a hinged door at one end of the case. The top of the case is formed of two walls 14 and 15, with an air-space between them. The inner wall 15 has openings 16, allowing free circulation of air into the space between the walls 14 and 15. At its front the wall 14 is extended to form a hood or ledge 17, overhanging the sign to protect'the same as much as possible from the weather. 18 indicates a brace or braces for this ledge. The front ,wall of the case is formed with an opening 12-,and this is covered by a stenciled plate 21 and a glass or other transparent or translucent slide 19. This slide 19'may be completely transparent or it may be translucent, as desired, and it may be of various colors, so as to give the sign any desired distinctive character; The front walls or plates 19 and 21 are removably held in position by guides 20, the arrangement being such that the said walls may be slid in and out of place at will, so as to enable changing thewall 19 to show a difierent color and changing the plate .21 to show a different sign whenever desired. Preferably two guides 20 are provided, one at the top and one at the bottom, as shown. Each guide is of an integral casting or other structure and is provided with one or more openings 20, respectively, matching with openings 16 in the wall 15 and openings 26 in the bottom of the case. This allows free circulation between the plates 19 and 21. The plate 21 has, as shown in Fig. 2, openings 22, which form the sign proper. The sign-plate 21 may also be provided with one or more openings, (indicated at 23,) which in connection with the colored wall 19 may be employed to give additional character to the sign. The walls or plates 19 and 21 may be moved in and out of place independently of the door 12 (See Fig. 3.) The heated air in the chamber between the walls 14 and 15 will circulate to some extent through the openings 16 and 26, thus melting any ice or snow that may accumulate in this part of the sign, the openings 26 serving to carry ofi the rain or melted snow or ice which may enter between said walls.

In the use of the invention the plate 21 should be stamped or cut to show the sign desired, and a light, such as the incandescent light 27, placed in the case rearward of the transparent or translucent wall 19. This will illuminate the plate 21 and cause the sign to appear clearly through the opening in the plate 21.

In the practical use of the invention on street-railways various of the walls 19 and 21 will be provided and these walls changed at will according to the sign desired.

Having thus described the preferred form of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A sign comprising a case having an open side, two walls spaced from each other and removably placed in the case at said open side, the inner wall being transparent or translucent and the outer being orificed for the purpose specified, a light within the case back of the said walls, said walls being spaced from each other, and the bottom of the case having a drain-opening communicating with the space between the walls.

2. A sign comprising a case made up of double-top walls, side, end and bottom walls, and a hinged door at one end, the inner top wall and the bottom wall having openings therein for the purpose specified, and one of the side walls having an openin therein, an orificed sign plate or wall place opposite said opening in the side wall, a translucent plate or wall laced back of the sign-plate, and a light aced in the case back of the translucent p ate or wall.

3. A sign comprising a case having double-top walls spaced from each other, and an opening in the inner top wall to establish communication between the interior of the case and the space between the top walls,

the front side of the case being open, an orificed sign-plate laced. in said open side of the case, a trans ucent or transparent plate located back of and spaced from the signplate, the inner top wall and the bottom wall of the case having openings therein registering with the space between the two plates, and means for illuminating the interior of the case.

4. A sign comprising a case having double-top walls spaced from each other, and an opening in the inner top wall to establish communication between the interior of the case and the space between the top walls, the front side of the case being open, an orificed sign-plate placed in said open side of the case, a translucent or transparent plate located back of and spaced from the signplate, the inner top wall and the bottom wall of the case having openings therein registering with the space between the two plates, and means for illuminating the interior of the case, said case being formed with guides adapted slidably to carry the perforate sign-plate, whereby to permit the removal and replacement of said plate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM THOMAS WATSON.

Witnesses:

O. D. EMMoNs, N. G. SAwERs. 

